Burley and Black Cavendish with a delightful mixture of sweet and tart.

Notes: Sailing, as in all sports, has its own jargon, understood only by interested fans. If you have ever admired the beauty of a sailboat gracefully gliding with a brightly colored headsail, then you have seen a spinnaker. Open yourself up to a new and exciting experience by trying this delightful mixture of Sweet Burley and tart Back Cavendish.

This is the first cherry blend I have smoked, so I am comparing it to aromatics I am familiar with and not other cherry blends. I smoked it as packaged and did not dry it or give it some air. I did not have issues with gurgle or goop.

The tin note was a little overpowering. It is the cough drop smell, and this was in the flavor for the first few puffs. The flavor settled down as I smoked though, and the description - "sweet and tart" is on the money. This was not identifiable to my palate as cherry at this point.

I would characterize this as a full aromatic and suspect those who tend to like this genre should give this a try if the "sweet and tart" sounds appealing.

Tin Note: Upon opening the tin there is a very pronounced aroma. I left the tin open for an hour or so and the aroma mellowed out enough to determine that indeed this is a cherry flavored blend.

Pre ~ determinations: While i have heard others talking about this particular blend, I decided not to read any of the other reviews so that i can try and give an unbiased opinion. I did take others advice and let the tobacco air out for a while before smoking it.

Tobacco: A little moist right out of the tin but Good Color and Good Leaf Cuts of what i now know is Sweet Burley and Tart Cavendish

The Burn: The Tobacco burned well from flame to finish and taste was not overly sweet. The Cherry Flavor was unlike other cherry blends i have tried. I guess for me personally, i had in mind a conceived notion of what a Cherry Blend should be and this was much different! The Smoke was a little edgy so i smoked extra slow and it left me with a tart sour cherry flavor.?

After smoking this blend i looked at the description of the Tobacco, a "Tart Cavendish" to which i have never heard of before - so that makes sense now.

Room Note: Wonderful

on a 5 star rating = 2

Reasoning: While i am not personally a fan of Cherry Blends, i could only muster up 2 out of 5 because of the tin note and the moisture level. While i tried to find the actual tobacco burley flavor i was only left with the morello cherry flavor on top of a tart cavendish

Spinnaker is an interesting blend. The reviewer who said it smelled like Ludens Cough Drops is dead right, and it's very intense if you try to smoke it wet. You'll also be faced with goop at the bottom. However, if you dry it out, the cherry taste is still present, but in a lesser form, and you'll have no goop, too. You'll also notice a few burley notes, and some fruit taste I can't identify, and when dry, those flavors become more obvious as you smoke it. Wet or dry, it won't bite your tongue, though it may burn hot if you smoke it wet. If you like cherry blends, and are looking for a step up from lighter ones, you'll like this as long as you follow my advice.

Offers up a sweet and sour (tart) flavor, as advertised. Artificial black cherry flavor comes on strong, then fades back a bit as you get into the bowl. The cherry background becomes drier and more tart, as the Burley moves forward. 2 stars.

Used a MM Diplomat to review this. Packed the pipe in the morning and didn't light it until the afternoon. This seems to help with drying but leaves the lower portion of the bowl with moisture. Giving the blend a chance to light easily but give off the flavors that should be present without being harsh.

The tobacco is exactly what it says on the tin. Sweet and tart. The burley was primary for me. The tart flavoring was a nice added kick for people who want something past a standard burley only tobacco. The burn was excellent and kept lit. I did not have any goop or gurgles.

It does ghost a cob for a couple bowls with the tart flavor. After that it is gone.

The tin note for this tobacco is strong but not overpowering. The fruitiness of the casing is right there in the front during the charring light. On the true light the sweetness of the burley starts to mix into the flavor. Still the primary element of the flavor is the tartness of the fruit. The flavor remains consistent until the bottom third of the bowl at which point the sweetness of barley takes over. The tobacco burned well and did not produce any bite.

First things first. Although I rated this blend as Recommended, that would only be for fans of Aromatics who are looking for a nice taste, and a nice room note. It isn't too strong, and it has the usual drawbacks of aromatics (borders on wanted to get a bit hot, and also leaves the LeBrea tarpits in the bottom of the bowl after a decent sized smoking).

Okay, mea culpas out of the way, let me say this about Spinnaker. It is a very nice Cavendish/Burley blend. The room note is extremely pleasant, with a little bit of a buttery-nut smell, and an overall nice feel to it. The smoke tastes great and is quite rich (which is why it is tempting to get a bit hot in puffing it).

The downside? When you first open the tin, it smells like cherry flavored cough syrup. Really, really strong - like an old fashioned Luden's Cough Drop box that has sat in the sun all afternoon, and the cough drops got gooey.

For a lot of successful, and mild, full aromatics it seems to me that it is often 2-out-of-3. Pick Room Note, Tin Note, or Taste - you only get two of them. Still looking for the perfect blend, but in the meantime I will enjoy adding Spinnaker to my rotation.

Label: Sailing, as in all sports, has its own jargon, understood only by interested fans. If you have ever admired the beauty of a sailboat gracefully gliding with a brightly colored headsail, then you have seen a spinnaker. Open yourself up to a new and exciting experience by trying this delightful mixture of Sweet Burley and tart Back Cavendish.

Tin Aroma: Very strong cherry, according to my girlfriend it smelled like a cherry cough drop. It's hard to smell anything past the cherry, it's easily one of the strongest smelling tobaccos I've tried.

Taste: Cherry is the foremost flavor, covering up the other flavors. From the tin note, I was worried that it would be very artificial tasting, but it wasn't. I've had one other cherry aromatic (some no-name bulk), and Spinnaker was much less artificial tasting and more pleasant in general. The label description of sweet and tart is right on the money. Towards the end of the bowl, the cherry flavor subsides pretty dramatically letting the burley come through a bit. It was almost like smoking two different tobaccos.

Room Note: Fruity, though the cherry smell lessened towards the end of the bowl.

Thoughts: It didn't seem too wet in the tine, but the bottom of my bowl was soaked after I finished. My pipe gurgled a bit at the end also. It wouldn't have hurt had I let it dry a bit longer.

1st I open it, damn, smells bad, almost like a cought syrup. A strong cherry flavor I guess, but after a few minutes the smell is getting better, a smooth and delight cherry. Easy to burn and great smoke, I smoke it very slow because it will be gurgling if you draw it hard. The room note is very good, my family love the smell after I smoke this blend.